Murray.Utah.gov has been recognized by Juggle as one of the top city government websites in the state of Utah Below you'll find an interview with Whitney Tyrrell, Communications Assistant for Murray City.
- Murray.Utah.gov is a top-notch web portal; what has been your role in its development?
My position has always been in charge of the Main City Website. I was excited to come in and learn as much as I could with website creation. With CivicPlus, I helped get employees from each of our departments organized into training classes. It took about a month to get all of our employees trained, which was condensed due to time restraints. It was stressful for me to make sure I understood enough so I could help the employees after our Civic Plus trainers were gone.
- Can you summarize the history of Murray City's web portal?
When I first started working for Murray City they had a very basic, very unappealing website created by a company called Sungard. Our graphics were just clip art images I found on the internet. It was very Plain Jane. We knew it was not appealing to our citizen’s either. We needed a fresh start and a more interactive website so we could keep our residents coming back for the information they need. A number of years before me, our Chief of Staff looked into a number of companies to help get a site up and running. CivicPlus was one of those companies. They were a smaller company back then but we knew of them and their work. Since that time they have created numerous, beautiful websites for cities across the nation. They knew how to cater to the needs of cities and residents, as well as make it easy on those of us that are updating the site information. We picked out the colors and styles of the site and they went to work on their creativity. We were able to take certain elements of Murray and incorporate them into our site. The banner used at the top of our website is a copy of the arch we have in our park. The arch features historic buildings, the 2 old smoke stacks and other prominent aspects of Murray’s past.
- What are the overarching objectives of Murray City's current e-government initiatives?
We want to connect with our residents easier. We want them to regularly visit our site for community information, recreation updates and all the happenings around the City. The nation is moving fast towards media domination. We want our site to be more interactive and more appealing so they visit on a more regular basis.
- From a marketing standpoint, what are some of the strategies that you have utilized to draw attention to the information and services provided by Murray.Utah.gov, both on- and off-line?
We have a Murray Journal newsletter that is produced every month by the Valley Journals. (they produce newsletters for many cities in the Salt Lake Valley) Using this outlet for information has always been a success. The newsletters are delivered to the doorsteps of our residents; a lot of them rely on this for their City information.
- How has citizen feedback influenced the development of Murray City's e-government services?
It’s this day in age that people are looking for all their information in one place. They don’t want to call around to several people to get their one question answered. In order for us as a company to stay connected with our citizens we needed to move along with the technological and media advancements. People are looking for convenience and information immediately.
- What is the most-used feature or service on the site?
I created a Report a Concern from for our residents to fill out, which can be accessed from the home page. This was originally created for Code Enforcement issues but we’ve received all sorts of interesting “concerns”.
- In what ways have you utilized interactive multimedia to connect more directly and personally with the citizens of Murray City?
Our Calendar and Stay Informed feed directly to our Facebook and Twitter pages. We have encouraged our employees to sign up and become a fan of Murray City and then spread the word to friends and family who would be interested too. Our Parks and Recreation department is looking to set up their own Facebook page and make it mandatory to sign up if you are signing up for a sports activity or Park Center class. This way they can send out quick messages about rain outs or reschedules.
- What has been the biggest hurdle in developing and/or maintaining Murray's web portal, and how did you overcome it?
I have worked with computers for several years and I consider myself to be quite savvy. This was a whole new step for me in a more difficult direction. It was challenging for me to step up and take control of the Web Administrator position because I was intimidated with the technological jargon. I have taken advantage of the CivicPlus help desk site and their web tutorials. I’ve loved learning more about the workings of a website that it became more enjoyable and less frustrating. It excites me that I am able to answer the questions and help my fellow employees. When I hear an employee exclaim ‘Oohhh’ when they finally understand, it makes me feel more confident in my work and more motivated to stay on top of the trainings.
- Where do you see e-government heading in the next 2-3 years? Are there any exciting new features or services currently in the works for Murray City's web portal?
We are in the beginnings of getting Murray more involved in the Social Media movement and we’re very interested in connecting with our residents on a more personal basis. Murray has always had a great community feel so it’s been challenging to try and keep up with that and incorporate all the new technological advances. It’s hard to say where things will be moving in the next few years because things are changing so quickly on a daily basis. Facebook and Twitter are popular now, but what about in the next year? Something newer and better will be out on the market. We are on the right track and we have done a great job at pushing our site out to the residents. We’ll just have to try and keep up with the rest of the world, and take the challenges and changes as they come!
- What else that you would like to tell us about Murray.Utah.gov?
That it is a wonderfully put together website and I’ve enjoyed every minute of my job as Communications Assistant and Website Administrator! Visit the site now and learn more about Murray, Utah.